Ramona

Ramona was an 1884 novel by Helen Hunt Jackson which described the travails endured by our young half-Scottish half-Native American heroine, mostly due to racial discrimination. It was immensely popular, and many places in San Diego jumped on the popularity bandwagon, claiming to be the places portrayed in the novel. The Camulos Ranch, pictured above, had a valid claim; the author is known to have visited there during her research, and describes particular furnishings and other items at Camulos in great detail, despite having stayed there only a few hours.

This card is one among a group of six cards purchased at Ramona’s Marriage Place, another attraction, that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has a “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the same time by the same tourist.

None of the cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest. This particular card is a very early Curt Teich “C. T. Photochrom” postcard, number A-33852, published in 1913.

San Diego Mission Palm, Serra Monument in Background

“The lone San Diego Mission Palm is the one remaining of the original four planted in 1769. Two were sent to Chicago to the Worlds Fair in 1892 and the third was blown down in 1913 while the fourth is pining for its mates and is losing strength rapidly.” This description comes from the back of this Curt Teich “C. T. Photochrom”, number A-48679, published in 1914. I am not able to find mention of this mission palm in any contemporary accounts, and am forced to assume that it no longer exists.

This card is one among a group of six cards purchased at Ramona’s Marriage Place, a tourist attraction, that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has a “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the same time by the same tourist. None of the six cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest.

Home of Ramona, Camulos Ranch, California

Ramona was an 1884 novel by Helen Hunt Jackson which described the travails endured by our young half-Scottish half-Native American heroine, mostly due to racial discrimination. It was immensely popular, and many places in San Diego jumped on the popularity bandwagon, claiming to be the places portrayed in the novel. The Camulos Ranch, pictured above, had a valid claim; the author is known to have visited there during her research, and describes particular furnishings and other items at Camulos in great detail, despite having stayed there only a few hours.

This card is one among a group of six cards purchased at Ramona’s Marriage Place, another attraction, that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has a “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the same time by the same tourist.

None of the cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest. This particular card was published by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco.

First Stage in California at Ramona's Marriage Place, San Diego

This card ostensibly depicts the very first stagecoach in California but, given that it was located at a well-known tourist trap, I am hard-pressed to believe it.

This card is one among a group of six Ramona-based cards that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has a “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the location itself, at the same time by the same tourist.

None of the cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest. This particular card was published by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco.

The Patio at Ramona's Marriage Place, San Diego

This card is one among a group of six Ramona-based cards that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has a “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the location itself, at the same time by the same tourist.

None of the cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest. This particular card was published by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco.

Ramona's Marriage Place and Monument Where American Flag was First Raised in Southern California, at San Diego

Ramona was an 1884 novel by Helen Hunt Jackson which described the travails endured by our young half-Scottish half-Native American heroine, mostly due to racial discrimination. It was immensely popular, not just for the storyline itself (sort of a Native American Uncle Tom’s Cabin), but for the romantic descriptions of 19th-century California, and the Spanish land aristocracy. It remained popular for decades thereafter, in part thanks to a 1910 D.W. Griffith film starring Mary Pickford, a 1928 version starring Delores del Rio, and a 1936 version starring Loretta Young and Don Ameche.

Consequently, many places in San Diego jumped on the bandwagon, claiming to be the places portrayed in the novel. Many of them had valid claims, as it was known that the author visited these places during her research. They were assisted by the fact that train travel to Southern California had recently become relatively easy and inexpensive, creating a tourist boom.

Ramona’s Marriage Place, previously (and once again) known as the Estudillo House, was unique in that there was no documented visit by the author, and that the location of Ramona’s marriage in the novel is not well described. Nevertheless, they marketed themselves as such and enjoyed a great deal of popularity.

This card is one among a group of six Ramona-based cards that I found in a shop as part of a lot of several California cards. Each of them has the “From Ramona’s Marriage Place” rubber stamp on the back, and were probably purchased at the Estudillo House, at the same time by the same tourist. None of the cards appears to be any newer than around 1915 at the very latest. This particular card was published by Edward H. Mitchell of San Francisco.

Ramona and its tourist consequences can probably be credited with keeping much of Old Town San Diego out from under the wrecking ball over the years, and can also be credited with (or blamed for, depending on your point of view) popularizing Mission Revival-style architecture.